Assessing the impact of environmental management systems on corporate and environmental performance

The interests of companies have increased to reduce or remove the waste produced during the manufacture, usage and/or disposal of the goods of the company. The necessity for such activities has been prioritised, while current research attempts to uncover the components which promote or dissuade such actions. With the advent of ISO 14001 corporate environmental management systems became the focus of attention (EMS). The basic premise is that such a system is crucial for the capacity of an enterprise to decrease waste and pollution and improve its overall performance concurrently. In this research, this assumption is assessed. Based on the data given by North American executives surveys, their behavior towards EMS and ISO 14001, the research evaluates the relative impacts of a formal but not certified EMS compared to a formal, certified system. The findings show firmly that companies with a formal EMS perceive well beyond pollution reduction and that the effect on many aspects of operating performance is critically favorable. The findings indicate that companies that have received EMS certification have a higher performance effect than companies that do not have their EMS certification. Moreover, experience with these systems has a larger effect on the selection and usage of environmental choices over time. These findings show the necessity to investigate deeper EMS, the environmental choices of a company and the direct and indirect connections between these systems and performance.